Dwain, Hildegarde, Betty & More

Symbolism? Headline from nypost.com: “X shutting down its longtime San Francisco headquarters on Friday the 13th: report.”

Some are fighting back. Headline from foxnews.com: “Superintendent orders Oklahoma schools to promote patriotism after student told to remove US flag from truck.” Kudos, Sir. If the following offends you, see a shrink:

Last night, half asleep, I stumbled upon an old black and white film of which I’d never heard, Maniac (1934), broadcast on the Retro channel’s Off Beat Cinema program, 43–5 on OTA in NYC. Horace B. Carpenter, with whom I was unfamiliar, received second billing. He has 406 titles under his name at IMDb! I added him to my unofficial list of most appearances, of which 350 is now the cutoff point, 913 the pinnacle achieved by Bess Flowers. It used to be 200. Anyway, what captured my attention more than that was the director, Dwain Esper, who was doing exploitation films long before the term became vogue circa 1970. His bio states his work has “… a hard, merciless edge and a serial killer pathology. His films are too sick and mean-spirited to be guiltless kitsch and too weird to enjoy just for laughs.” Born in the state of Washington, he began as a carnival barker. He was a natural con man who cajoled folks into investing in his projects and then not suing him for repayment. He also somehow eluded obscenity laws, which were much stricter back then. He became rich, especially when he sold his production company in 1948. He has 22 credits as a producer and 12 as a director. Here are the titles of some of the other movies he helmed: Narcotic (1933), Sex Madness (1934), Marihuana (1936), Curse of the Ubangi (1946). His most significant contributions to cinema were the re-releases of the now cult classic Reefer Madness (1936) and Tod Browning’s great Freaks (1932), which initially flopped at the box office but is now regarded highly. A father of two, Esper passed away in 1982 at 89. His wife, Hildegarde Stadie, was a co-conspirator, writing the screenplays of six of the flicks, co-producing four and acting in two. She died at 98 in 1993. Photos, which I combined at pinetools.com, from Google Images:

RIP actress Betty A. Bridges, 83. Born in Dallas, her career spanned 1974–2014. There are 63 titles under her name at IMDb, mostly guest shots on primetime fare. She wrote, directed and appeared in A Day in the Life of Mia (1997), which co-starred her three children, Todd, Jimmy and Verda, all of whom have extensive acting credits. She was married from ‘60-’83. Well done, madam. Photo from GI:

The last day of August was pleasant, fine for doing business curbside. My thanks to Herbie, who delivered two marketable titles, and to the woman who bought The Hammer of Eden by Ken Follett; and to Cabbie who purchased Cross Fire by James Patterson.

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